Introduction1
Although diaspora philanthropic organizing is not a new phenomenon, their projects and
interests in local community development ha ve spread out through the visible activism of
hometown associations. This paper looks at the experience of hometown associations in
Central America as an illustration of voluntary work on development and a manifestation of
a transnational identity characterized by the interplay between micro and macro dynamics,
living in a real world of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;distant proximitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Rosenau 2003).
Distant proximities are real-life experiences that both integrate and fragment relationships
outside and inside borders. Immigrants and diasporas are increasingly key protagonists of
distant proximities: through their labor force, they integrate their home and host countries
into the global economy in order to keep their families together. Their lives are also
fragmented, however, by the experience of distance and separation from their families and
nations. The end result is a transnational lifestyle, characterized by both opportunities and
hardships that feature this paradox of distance and closeness.
The paper analyzes the formation of transnational migrants as diasporas that are formed by
the influx of history, migration and contact, and identifies characteristic and features of
HTAs within a broader context of identity and belonging. The paper also looks at the ways
in which these associations operate and posits questions about the challenge to development
players to engage with diasporas as partners in development. We argue that development
work today needs a deterritorialized approach that includes the realities and desires of
migrants as organized diasporas or as individuals with concrete preferences.
The analysis of Central American HTAs includes a review of the work of El Salvadoran,
Guatemalan and Honduran groups and their efforts to implicate themselves in local activities
through various philanthropic activities, some of which have more bearing on development
than others.

1

1

Research assistance and support for this paper was provided by Rebecca Rouse and Douglas Pulse.

1. Central American migration and transnationalism
Central America is a region that has experienced significant movement of people over the
past forty years, particularly since the civil wars of the late seventies. A combination of at
least four trends has influenced migration which, in turn, has set the basis for a transnational
Central American diaspora which, among other things, is engaged with its home country.
The repression and civil wars of the seventies and eighties led to mass migrations.
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua experienced brutal forms of political
repression directed by a ruling class formed by praetorian guards, conservative
oligarchies, and conformist elites. The main agents of repression in Central America
resorted to ideological tools such as anti-communism or anti-atheism as a way to justify
or legitimize increased repression (Vilas, 1994).

In practical terms, a culture of violence persisted in the region, in part through the state,
resorting to different arguments in order to retain political power. 2 Death squads, corrupt
police, repressive armies and clandestine security apparatuses promoted the idea of
containing any threat against “the established order,” even if such order was historically
and structurally rooted in inequality. The end result in each of these countries was a civil
war that lasted more than ten years. Repression and war caused a mass movement of
people migrating predominantly into Costa Rica, Mexico and the United States
(Dunkerley 1994).

While the postwar reconstruction process in Central America opened the door for
economic recovery during the nineties, the effect of globalization and structural
adjustment reforms on these governments resulted in low growth rates and high

2

By culture of violence I refer to Johan Galtung’s (291) definition as “any aspect of a culture that can be used
to legitimize violence in its direct or structural form.” See “Cultural Violence” Journal of Peace Research, vol 27,
n.3, 1990, p. 291-305. In Guatemala, for example, the army justified its actions in the name of protecting the
constitution, and created a series of symbolic acts, such as naming military operations with heroic names, or
military units with names of heroes who fought terrible enemies. The same could be observed in El Salvador,
as in the case of the Atlacatl Battallion, one of the most savage military units, but regarded by the army and its
government as examples of defenders of the fatherland.

2

unemployment. Thus, the combined effect of a rough political transition emerging from a
culture of violence, added to slow economic growth, further influenced people ’s
decisions to migrate and reconnect with relatives who had migrated prior to and during
the 1980s. By 2000, 2.7 million Central Americans were officially recognized living
abroad.

Table 2: Caribbean and Central American population in Canada and the United States
Canada a
United States b
Central America
73,760
2,681,835
Source: Statistics Canada; U.S. Census Bureau. a 2001 Census; b 2000 Census

Coupled with these political and economic realities, the region also faced a number of
natural disasters from the late nineties to the present that added to the continued flow of
migration. A series of events have affected the region in the last few years, such as the
decline in coffee prices, drought, hurricanes, and earthquakes. These events haved
devastated its population and economies. For example, the decline in the value of coffee
exports affected its position as a share of total exports.
Table 3: Coffee Exports as Percentage of Total Exports
1990 1995 1998
Costa Rica
12.3
12 7.3
El Salvador
40.4 21.8 13.1
Guatemala
26.7 26.8 20.7
Honduras
20.2 23.9 21.5
Nicaragua
21.4 24.9 27.9
Panama
3.1 5.8 3.4
Source: ECLAC

3

In conjunction with the coffee crisis, in early 2000 Central America was hit with a
drought that significantly affected four countries: Guatemala, El Salvador and, even more
dramatically, Honduras and Nicaragua. According to the United Nations World Food
Program, nearly 1.6 million Central Americans were affected, half of them from
Honduras. Many Central Americans faced starvation. In Guatemala, more than one
hundred peasants died during the first six months of 2001 as a result of the drought. In
other countries the death toll was even higher.
Table 4: Drought in Central America: Population affected
Country
Population
affected
Guatemala
113,596
El Salvador
412,064
Honduras
791,970
Nicaragua
187,645
Source: World Food Program, WFO, UN.

Following the drought in 2001, two earthquakes in El Salvador affected the economic and
housing infrastructure of more than one hundred thousand households. Five years later
the country is still recovering from that disaster. Between 2002 and 2006 the region has
also faced other natural disasters, which have added to the stress and flow of migration.
These migration trends have also been defined by a market for foreign labor demanding the
production of goods and services among industrialized countries, the United States in
particular for the case of Central America. This foreign labor force works in service
industries that are intrinsically connected to the global economy, demanding cheap labor and
activities that other players in the economy are not prepared to work on. This is a labor
force that lives under poor conditions and works in various industries such as hospitality,
cleaning, construction, and retail. Andrade-Eekhoff (2003) argues that this process of labor
â&#x20AC;&#x153;integrationâ&#x20AC;? suffers relatively high levels of exclusion and marginalization due to the
undocumented nature of many of its migrants who respond to push-pull and transnational
networks and linkages. For example, migrants in the poultry industry in the American South
working for Tysons Foods (Fisk, 200; Striffler 2005) live under precarious circumstances,
working long hours with a limited social safety net. Similar conditions are found among

4

foreign part time workers in the so called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;logistics sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, such as FedEx, delivering
packages on time from all over the world (Smith, Mendoza and Ciscel, 2005).
These dynamics have intertwined with the formation of transnational ties between a nascent
diaspora and its homeland. In reference to Guatemala, Popkin for example, describes the
emergence of a Pan-Mayan ethnicity in the Guatemalan transnational community linking
Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango Guatemala and Los Angeles, California (Popkin 1999,
2005). Similarly, Honduran Garifuna diasporas in New York and New Jersey maintain
strong ties to their community on the Atlantic Coast of Honduras.
The manifestations of these linkages translate into interconnectedness between families,
communities and society. We have discussed elsewhere the significance of these
connections which include the sending of remittances, traveling back home, calling to the
relatives, buying home country goods, and belonging to hometown associations (Orozco
2005b). The Table below shows the extent of connections Central Americans maintain with
their home countries. Overall, one in three Central Americans maintains strong linkages
with their home country.
Table 5: Practices of
Country
Calls once a week
Sends over $300
Buys HCG
Has a saving account.
Travels once a year
(& Spends over US$1,000)
Has a mortgage. Loan
Owns a small bus.
Helps. Family w/ mort.

One key type of engagement is belonging to hometown associations. Hometown
associations (HTAs) are entities formed by immigrants who seek to support their places
of origin, maintain relationships with local communities, and retain a sense of community

5

as they adjust to life in the United States (Orozco 2000; 2003; 2005a). The number of
hometown associations within various diaspora groups has multiplied in recent years. 3

These associations represent a subset of minority-based migrant philanthropic
organizations. Their activities exhibit at least four features (Orozco 2000). First, their
activities range from charitable aid to investment. Second, the structure of these
organizations varies, with more or less formal domestic structures and sporadic
relationships with their hometown and governments abroad. Third, the organizationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
decisions about defining their agenda or activities depend on an array of factors, such as
availability of resources, relationship with their hometown, preferences of their members,
and organizational structure. Fourth, like other Latino nonprofits, they have a small
economic base. To some extent, Central Americans participate in these associations as a
way to validate their identity. The next two sections analyze these organizations.

2. Identity and Belonging in the Latino Hometown Association
One critical element that defines a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s identity is the ability to exercise their sense of
belonging through material and symbolic practices. Belonging to a hometown association is
one practical yet substantive activity of attachment to the home country. However, it is
important to stress that HTA membership is only one kind of association among organized
diasporas; there are many kinds of domestic organizations working for Latinos in the U.S.
Moreover, HTA membership should be understood in the broader sense of the word as
organizations that include religious or professional groups not only working in the
hometown but in philanthropy in the home country.
Within this context of Latino or diaspora community based philanthropic institutions
membership is not as large as firmly believed by some. A survey of Latino groups from
twelve Latin American and Caribbean countries showed that on average eight percent of
people who send remittances belong to an HTA. The numbers vary from group to group,
whereby people from the Caribbean have the highest participation rate (Orozco 2005a;
Orozco 2004). Although these percentages seem low, they reflect three critical issues. First,
3

6

As way of comparison, look at the Ghanaian, Guyanese and Mexican cases.

not everyone is involved in some kind of voluntary association, outside of religious
membership. Second, HTA membership is one among many available kinds of memberships
in the polity (Orozco 2000). Three, belonging to an HTA may reflect specific patterns
associated with political culture, family links, material circumstances, cultural identity, and
integration which differentiate them from those who do not form part of these associations.
Table 6: Remittance senders who belong to an HTA
Country
(%)
Guyana
29%
Jamaica
16%
Ecuador
10%
Haiti
10%
Honduras
7%
Colombia
6%
Nicaragua
4%
El Salvador
4%
Mexico
4%
Dom. Rep.
3%
Guatemala
3%
Bolivia
1%
Average
9%
Jan Nederveen Pietersen argues that a key issue in this global age is cultural difference, in
which people struggle to carve a niche out of the ‘Macdonalization’ of life while
compromising their ‘original’ lifestyle and producing a hybrid culture (2004). The relevance
of this approach to globalization as hybridization, that is, a condition by which material and
symbolic practices incorporate varieties of cultures across locations and identities, is that
some diasporas seek to recreate their identity by mixing practices across locations. Thus,
some Latinos or diasporas work towards maintaining a transnational identity and use HTA
membership as the space through which to do so. This transnational identity is a diaspora’s
illustration of hybridization.
An analysis of the survey data shows that those who belong to HTAs differentiate
themselves from other migrants in that they are as much involved with their families both in
the U.S. and abroad the longer they have been in the country. They are U.S. citizens, but also

7

visit the home country more often and help the family back home. These members mix their
commitments to both homes, signifying a transnational membership.
Table 7: Features of remittance senders and their belonging to an HTA
Type of activity
Belongs to HTA
Yes
No
Is over forty years
Visit country once a year or more
Helps family in home country with other obligations
Has been in the U.S. more than ten years
Remittance sender is a US Citizen
Sends over US$350
His or her income is

60
56
55
44
38
31
$32,733

44
30
20
29
22
18
$20,659

This pattern of belonging as an affirmation of a transnational identity is relatively important
among various groups from Latin America, such as Central America. Although the
percentage of those sending remittances may be small, their contributions are important to
the wellbeing of their communities of origin.

3. Central American Hometown Associations at Work
Partly influenced both by the experience of transnationalism as well as by a desire to make
things better or offer a contribution to the home country, hometown associations are
formed in many countries.
A significant number of Central American civil society groups exist, most of which are not
hometown associations, but whose members are in relationship with some of the HTAs. In
September 2004, for example, the State Department organized a historic event bringing
together more than one hundred Central American associations, such as old standing groups
like Carecen, Chambers of Commerce and HTAs such as CUS, the United Salvadoran
Communities of Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The participation of these
associations reflected that there is some level of organization and an interest to work on
home country affairs.

This section looks at the experience and practices of Central American hometown
associations and focuses on the membership structure of the organizations, the type of
projects identified as well as the process by which they are identified, fundraising efforts, and
project implementation. The material is based on interviews with more than thirty
association leaders.
i. Guatemala
Guatemalan migrants have often been organized along different lines, in the eighties as
political units mobilizing against military regimes and human rights violations and in the
nineties promoting the peace process, indigenous rights and democratization. More recently,
this community has sought to further its political ties and also promote links at more basic
levels through philanthropic activism.
The number of Guatemalan associations is uncertain. Under the Berger administration an
innovative but ill-funded government initiative within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
created. This was the Office of the Vice-Minister of Migration and Human Rights, originally
run by Marta Altolaguirre, a well known human rights expert. Her office was given the task
of acting as a liaison to the Guatemalan diaspora, understanding its needs, and building a
relationship with this community. The office identified a significant number of community
leaders in contact with Guatemala and created a directory of 164 organizations based mainly
in California, New York, and Illinois. Interviews of these organizations were conducted in
order to identify the range of organizational capacity and involvement with their home
country issues.

Membership and organizational structure
Most Guatemalan associations have relatively small core groups of members that meet on a
regular basis. These active members often make up the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board of directors,
president, secretary, and treasurer. As membership is on a voluntary basis, some groups
report that it is sometimes difficult to hold regular elections to select the board and officers
due to the time constraints of their working-class members. As a result, those members who
are able to serve in leadership positions often volunteer for posts. Associations have
anywhere from five to twenty active members, but often have a much larger individual
donor base throughout the Guatemalan community. For example, one association in
Delaware boasts a general membership of around 250 people. Most of these groups have
been created since 1991 in response to compelling needs in Guatemala, such as natural
disasters, or to provide needed representation to the Guatemalan immigrant community in
the United States, especially those of indigenous descent.
Like other HTA groups from Mexico or El Salvador, for example, membership is mostly
comprised of migrants from a common community or region in Guatemala. As a result, the
international activities of these groups are then focused on these municipalities, and
association leaders in the United States maintain close ties to community leaders and
organizations in their hometowns. Some groups have also made it part of their mission to
assist Guatemalan migrants in the United States with anything from legal to social services,
in which case participation is not limited to those immigrants from a particular community.

10

Project Identification and implementation
The activities of Guatemalan hometown associations often include activities for the
Guatemalan community both in the United States and in Guatemala. In Guatemala, projects
are mostly focused around health, education and disaster relief. Some recent activities
carried out by Guatemalan associations have included gathering in kind donations such as
blankets and clothing for victims of Hurricane Stan and toys or school supplies for local
students, providing prenatal care for women, and assisting in the development of
infrastructure such as roads. Groups also promote cultural links between Guatemalans at
home and abroad through activities such as the sponsorship of visits by Guatemalan
musicians to the United States and funding the repatriation of remains for immigrants who
have passed away in the U.S. but wish to be buried in their hometown.
All of the associations interviewed reported that they rely heavily on the recommendations
of local community groups and leaders in their respective target regions in Guatemala when
identifying future projects and activities. To that end, boards of directors maintain close
contact with local groups, churches and municipal governments in order to assess the needs
of the community. The decision on project selection is usually made by the board after it
has evaluated need and feasibility.
Groups often team up with some of the same entities in order to carry out their activities.
For example, Comite Ixchiguan in Delaware has become involved in conflict resolution
efforts focusing on a border conflict between two municipalities that has left three residents
wounded and ten homes destroyed. The group has been working alongside the local
municipal government to establish a dialogue between key players in the conflict.
Fundraising efforts
Guatemalan associations undertake a variety of different fundraising approaches, with varied
success. Some groups noted that fundraising is a challenge for them, while others seem to
produce a better return. In general, groups tend to raise anywhere between $2000 and $8000
a year. Some common fundraising activities include soccer tournaments, dinners, and other
events within the Guatemalan community, in addition to individual membership dues.

11

Some groups have looked outside the Guatemalan community for fundraising, using media
to attract attention to their cause or soliciting grants from institutional donors. One group in
Florida has received funds from organizations such as Catholic Charities. A second group
appealed to local television and newspapers for help in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan in
2005, pulling in donations for disaster relief from outside the Latino community and
educating the public about the situation in Guatemala. All groups comment that they are
constantly searching for new donors and partners. In particular, one group noted that a
single project, the donation of a used ambulance, took the association two years to complete
because of the difficulties they had raising funds.

Corn Maya, Inc.

Corn Maya. is a hometown association with a transnational focus. Founded in 1991, the
group is involved in activities serving Guatemalans of indigenous descent both in the community
of Jacaltenango in Guatemala and in Jupiter, Florida, where the group is based. Through their
board of directors and an active membership of twenty people, Corn Maya works with the
immigrant community in Jupiter to provide a variety of social, legal and employment services.
These activities are funded through direct donations and by larger donors such as the Community
Foundation for Palm Beach, the Palm Beach County Farmworker Coordinating Council, Amigos
de Jupiter, and Catholic Charities.
In Jacaltenango, Corn Maya regularly sponsors cultural events and supports local
musicians, in addition to running regular donation drives for the community such as childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
toys at Christmas or school supplies in the Fall. One of Corn Mayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest projects in
Jacaltenango was the construction of an orphanage, which was sponsored in part by Catholic
Charities of Jupiter. Corn Mayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board of directors maintains a regular dialogue with community
leaders and organizations in Jacaltenango, as well as with potential partners both in the United
States and in Guatemala. The organization stresses that these partnerships are essential to the
success of their projects.
In the next year Corn Maya will be opening a new Community Resource Center in
Jupiter with the help of Catholic Charities in order to strengthen the quality of their services for
the Guatemalan community in Florida. In Jacaltenango, the group is attempting to forge new
partnerships, for example with the Guatemalan microfinance organization in Salcaja.

ii. Salvadoran Hometown Associations in the United States
Salvadoran hometown associations are the better known groups among Central Americans.
According to the Salvadoran Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are some 200 Salvadoran
HTAs distributed throughout various parts of the United States (see Figure 1). Interviews
were conducted with the leaders of twenty associations based in Los Angeles and

12

Washington DC. Questions were asked about organizational structure, range of projects and
activities, resources invested, and extent of interest in partnering with other organizations.
Figure 1: Salvadoran HTAs in the United States
50
42
40
30

Salvadoran hometown associations are usually organized to help one particular community
in El Salvador. Moreover, similar to Mexican associations, the majority of the Salvadoran
HTAs interviewed were created in the early 1990s.
Membership and organizational structure
Most Salvadoran associations have a well-defined structure, involving a board and a few
active members, numbering around 10. They often work with a parallel board in their home
community. This group, often consisting of the relatives of HTA members, sends ideas for
projects and oversees the disbursement of funds. For the most part, Salvadoran HTAs rely
solely on events and donations to support their activities, similar to Mexican HTAs. HTAs
form around a disaster, such as Hurricane Mitch; around a cause, such as lack of a high
school; or at the urging of a prominent member of their home community, such as their
pastor.
Salvadoran HTAs focus their activities on one town. The members come together because
they are from the same area, and have shared connections to a singular community and often

13

a singular political history. Frequent visits keep members in close communication with
association members or family members in the hometown, as well as maintain their
connection and drive to better their home community. While it may seem obvious to note,
most hometown associations are limited in scope because their goal is to help an individual
community. There are instances of partnership with other HTAs from other towns, but their
focus is almost always on their place of origin.
COPRECA (El Comite ProPaz y Reconstrucion de Cacaopera en Los Angeles) works in
Cacaopera, El Morazan and with the Salvadoran community of Los Angeles. Founded in 1992, the
club initially worked on reconstruction of sections of town destroyed by war. The members have
worked on the construction of a health clinic, wells, and bought an ambulance for the town. They
also have raised money for medical and emergency donations. COPRECA has rebuilt the church,
school floor and basketball courts, created a radio station and a clothing factory run by women. It
has also distributed rope-making trees and vegetable seeds to help with reforestation and the
reinsertion of the rope-making industry. Their latest project was a childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daycare center.
The ideas for COPRECAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s projects come from the citizens of Cacaopera. The
construction projects that COPRECA undertakes always involve the labor of the community.
COPRECA began raising money through a monthly quota for the members and then moved on to
raising money through dances.
COPRECA has worked with the national government and the local mayor on both the
reforestation project and the construction of a water tank. A government office helped to teach
townspeople how to take care of the seeds and seedlings. Los Angeles City government also
funded them to hold motivational talks for Salvadoran-Americans in the Los Angeles area;
COPRECA would like to continue this series with health education talks.

HTAs often find their strength in dealing with the most immediate needs of their home
community. Natural disasters or the lack of basic human needs such as health care and
elementary education incite HTAs to gather around the cause. They are volunteer
organizations, however, and are limited by the amount of free time available to their mostly
working-class members.
Project identification and implementation
Salvadoran HTAs work on a range of projects that often involve a binational exercise of
activities carried on both countries. On the Salvadoran side, the majority of projects seem to
focus on health and education. In health, the funds are invested in building health clinics,
medicine and ambulance donations. On education, the funds are invested in libraries, school
water systems, school supplies, and school repairs.

14

HTAs also carry out projects of charitable and infrastructural nature. These include
constructing laundry facilities, recreational areas, and stadiums, and undertaking church
renovations. In addition to carrying out projects in El Salvador, some organizations work on
the U.S. side to promote cultural and religious identity. Some of the activities include
cultural events (dances, Independence Day celebrations), scholarships, religious events,
youth motivational talks and sports and recreation.
The decisions on project selection and implementation result from consultation among
board members. In some cases, the organizations report being approached by people (both
private citizens and elected municipal leaders) and organizations in El Salvador and
petitioned to work on specific projects. The groups who do not have a team in El Salvador
ask the townspeople about their needs and try to meet them.
Chinamecaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parish priest was the catalyst for the creation of the Comunidad Unida de Chinameca
in 1991. The priest asked his former church-members to form a committee in the U.S. to finish installing a
water system in the local school. The Comunidad Unida de Chinameca began by constructing the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
water tower, as well as 12 restrooms. From there, they went on to construct a laundry facility, a
recreational park for the town, as well as painting and putting a roof on the local church. Each project
lasts 1-2 years and maintains the functioning of the HTA.The Comunidad gathers around $30,000
annually, raised mostly through banquets. Future projects for the Comunidad Unida de Chinameca
include constructing a trade school to train students to be electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and welders.
They are motivated by the lack of opportunities for young people, and would like to keep them away from
drugs and alcohol.
As word of the work of the Comunidad Unida de Chinameca spread, the petitions for help began to
rain in. The Comunidad votes to decide which projects they will undertake. Comunidad Unida de
Chinameca has a board of directors composed of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and
others totaling 12. There are also non-board members (for a total of 33) who are allowed to vote but are
not part of the leadership. All members are volunteers, and their goal is to teach the townspeople to work.
Members of the Comunidad travel constantly to Chinameca and oversee the projects.
Comunidad Unida de Chinameca received donations of construction material from the French
embassy to build a wall for the Red Cross building in the town, and the town participated by donating
labor. The group had a negative experience working with the government in reconstruction projects after
the earthquake, and does not currently work with the government to complete their projects. The
Comunidad has corporate sponsorship for some of its events, as well as local business sponsors in the
U.S.

One group described the number of community-based petitions as overwhelming, creating
the need for the board to whittle down the projects to the ones most in-line with their goals,
as well as most feasible. Los Angeles City government gave one group funds to hold
motivational talks for Salvadoran-Americans in the area.

15

Salvadoran HTAs, much like their Mexican counterparts, are small organizations whose
binational character allows them to choose projects based on the most urgent needs of their
home communities. The needs of the town are identified by those close to the HTAs.
Fundraising efforts
Efforts to raise funds translate into various kinds of activities, including raffles, pageants,
and dinners arranged for the migrant communities. Donations in kind are also commonplace
to support these activities. Many have a community base of 50 to over 100 people who
participate in their fundraising events. Most groups raise less than $15,000 a year for
projects, but a few raise more. Even when the total is greater, it does not necessarily all go to
El Salvador, instead, the money is used for activities supporting Salvadoran culture in the
United States.
Founded in 1993, the Comité Unidos por Intipuca in Washington holds fundraising
parties in the area to support their works in Intipuca, La Union. Fourteen board members in
Washington, as well as a board in Intipuca, decide which projects the group will undertake. They
have worked on church, given health clinic support, and school and medical donations..
The Comité holds parties and fundraisers to garner funds for their projects. Their biggest
project is fundraising for and organizing the travel of 300-400 people to Intipuca for every March
1st . They bring their “reina” (queen) to participate in the contest in El Salvador. The reina is chosen
by the number of votes that she sells, which is also a fundraising mechanism. The Comité raises
around $25,000 a year.
They have been working for 8 years on the construction of a stadium. They have raised
around $200,000 for the project, of which the national development agency FISDL has given them
$110,000. The Comité has worked with the FISDL and the mayor’s office. They lobbied the
government to re-instate a bachillerato school in the town; 5 years ago they worked with the FISDL
to rebuild a bridge that was destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. Their newest project is the construction
of a “casa de cultura” which also has the support of the FISDL.

Government diaspora outreach
A recent study on Central American transnationalism suggested that “the Salvadoran
government as compared to the other governments in the region, both central as well as
local, has a much more institutionalized response to international labor migration” (Eekhoff
2004). Despite the limited resources available in a poor country like El Salvador, the
government has sought to adapt to changing circumstances and promote policies towards
their emigrant communities.

16

One of the first steps in that direction was the creation of a General Directorate within the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the Salvadoran community living abroad (DGACE).
The directorate, created in January 2000, has been the main official link between the
government and the Salvadoran community. The Directorate justifies its existence by
pointing to the continuing reality of migration and remittances of the Salvadoran community
living outside El Salvador. The program is organized in three areas: economic ties and
integration; community and local development; and cultural and educational ties (Ministerio
de Relaciones Exteriores de El Salvador 2006).
This government office has been active in forging and maintaining relationships with their
compatriots by working directly with consulates and the embassy, coordinating projects with
other government agencies, visiting the community and its leaders on a regular basis, and
keeping the community informed through its online publication “Comunidad en Acción”
which reports on various activities and projects implemented by the diaspora as well as in
collaboration with government or private entities (Viceministerio para los Salvadoreños en el
Exterior 2006). The government outreach strategy has focused predominantly on education
and community outreach, but has not addressed political matters such as the right to vote
abroad and broader representation of the community.
In the past two years the government has established a Vice-Ministry of Foreign Affairs for
relations with the diaspora. The vice-minister is one of the most active, committed and
engaged public officials in Latin America and the Caribbean working to improve the
relationship with its community.
The government outreach efforts have also been met by other institutions. The media in El
Salvador in particular has created an active strategy to keep the diaspora informed about its
affairs as well as events in their home country. Newspapers like La Prensa Gráfica and Diario
de Hoy have a section on Salvadoran diaspora news ranging from political events to social
issues, including topics like crime and conditions of the community. La Prensa Gráfica’s
section, “Departamento 15,” maintains a regular news section that also operates online
(http://www.laprensagrafica.com/dpt15/).

17

Development Partnerships with HTAs
Unlike the absence of initiatives on remittance transfers, the Salvadoran government has
worked closely in forging partnerships with hometown associations (HTAs) to work on a
range of development projects in rural El Salvador. One important example is the initiative
managed by the Social Investment and Local Development Fund (FISDL) of the
government of El Salvador.
Hometown associations have established partnerships with various organizations. These
groups include the national government (often in the form of the national development
agency FISDL), municipality, churches, other nonprofits, and businesses. Depending on
HTA political afiliations (or lack thereof), local mayors and the FISDL are among the top
liaisons for project implementation. Churches also are on top of the list. Additionally, some
Salvadoran HTAs are closely connected with other Salvadoran organizations, through
groups like El Rescate or Carecen or through umbrella HTA groups like Comunidades
Unidas Salvadoreñas and have been essential to the lobbying power of the HTAs on their
home government.
To take advantage of the success that Salvadoran HTAs have had in the design and
implementation of projects in El Salvador, the FISDL, in partnership with the DGACE, has
developed a program through which HTAs abroad compete for matching funds from the
national government to complete development projects. The program known as “Unidos
por la Solidaridad” is designed to work with Salvadoran organizations raising funds to
support their hometowns. Through this program, HTAs submit applications describing the
project and funds required and FISDL reviews it for feasibility and responsiveness to
community needs.
In order for a project to participate in the partnership, FISDL has various requirements,
some of which include:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

18

The Project must conform to the municipal government’s plan on civic participation;
The HTA must match at least 10% the project costs.
The municipal government must be solvent;
Only social infrastructure projects are included;
Projects must cost at least US$30,000 (FISDL 2004).

By January 2004 there were 14 contests for FISDL matching funds involving more than
forty projects to which HTAs have contributed US$2.1 million. FISDL has maintains a
liaison approach through the program “Conoce tu municipio” which provides information
to HTAs about the status of their hometown, as well as the projects FISDL has undertaken
in individual towns.
Of the 45 projects that HTAs have partnered with the FISDL on, 28 have benefited the
provinces of La Union (11), La Paz (10) and Chalatenango (7). Ahuachapan, La Libertad,
Morazan, San Vicente and Santa Ana have had one project each, and Sonsonante has no
HTA-FISDL partnership experiences to date. The average cost of a project undertaken in
these partnerships is $278,689.73, but varies with the department ($1,210,349.58 in Usulutan
to $40,000 in Ahuachapan) or partnership with an HTA.

Salvadoran HTAs, on average, give 16% of the support, both in financial donations and inkind support, but the percentage ranges from 1% in San Salvador to 57% in Usulutan. In the
department of Cabañas, where HTAs have partnered with the FISDL on three projects,

19

FISDL
Funds
66.0%

HTAs have put up $99,000 (9% of total funds) to match the FISDL $780,000 (69% of total
funds). The average cost of each project in Caba帽as has been $380,000.
Of the 45 projects, 17 deal with infrastructure, 14 with recreation and 6 with health (See
table below). The Cuscatlan-origin HTAs (SALA, L.A. and Asociaci贸n Adentro
Cojutepeque) have sponsored two projects with FISDL. In Cojutepeque they worked to
remodel and furnish a recreation area for the town. In Suchitoto, Cuscatlan, SALA worked
with the FISDL to repair and install streetlights on an access road to the Port of San Juan.
By June 2004 the associations had rasied a total of US$4.53 million, double the amount they
had committed until January 2004.
With the new administration of President Saca a new program was inaugurated with a call
for proposals that led to the approval of 12 new projects amount 3.1 million, sixty percent of
which was committed by the Salvadoran community living abroad (Ministerio de Relaciones
Exteriores de El Salvador 2006).
Another case where institutional relationships and partnerships have occurred with
government involvement refers to the participation of the International Fund for
Agricultural Development of the United Nations (IFAD) in co-financing development
projects with HTAs. IFAD has a widespread rural project network in the Latin American
and Caribbean region and has been working on projects concerning the relationship between
rural development and remittances in El Salvador.
IFAD has been working to determine the role of remittances, especially as untapped capital,
coming from the United States to Latin America. IFAD has been working with the World
Bank and Salvadoran hometown associations in the U.S. to sensitize them on the conditions
of rural Salvadoran communities and identify potential cooperative projects, pooling HTA
and IFAD resources.
IFAD has worked with a Los Angeles HTA supported by El Rescate and a Virginia-based
HTA to privately construct a local high school. Besides providing 53% of the funding,

20

IFADâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main contributions were technical assistance and help obtaining the support of the
Ministry of Education for the project.
What IFAD has done is to incorporate HTA initiatives in its Rural Reconstruction and
Modernization Program which in turn encourages migrants and migrant associations to
invest in income-generating projects in their home countries. By matching migrant funds,
IFAD has provided technical and financial assistance for projects in targeted Salvadoran
communities.
iii. Honduran Associations
Like organizations supporting other countries of origin, it is uncertain how many Honduran
associations exist. From a compilation of associations thirty were identified, four of which
were interviewed for this analysis. Their activities are similar to those of the other groups.
Membership and organizational structure
Like other hometown associations, Honduran groups are also led by a board of directors as
well as presidents, secretaries and treasurers who are elected on an annual or biannual basis.
Groups have between 15 and 100 members who meet on a regular basis. However, given
the binational nature of many of the groupsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities whereby they work to provide services
both to local Honduran immigrants as well as communities in Honduras, locally based
volunteers and clients could number into the hundreds. Like other hometown associations,
Honduran groups tend to be made up of members from a specific town or municipalities in
Honduras, although some have expanded their focus to include several municipalities, either
on their own or in partnership with other HTAs. One New York based group, Travesia
Nueva Ola, was founded specifically to represent immigrants from Travesia within preexisting Honduran umbrella organizations in the area. Other groups have come together
around other common causes such as Afro Latino culture or an interest in investment.
Project identification and implementation
Honduran organizations tend to keep in close communication with their hometown
communities in Honduras in order to best understand what their needs are. They cite
churches, local government entities and community groups as important contacts for their

21

work. Decisions on project selection are then usually made by the board of directors,
although some groups do indicate a more formal process. One association interviewed, for
example, sends a representative to their target community in Honduras every two years to
hold community focus groups. The club then meets back in the United States to discuss the
findings and vote on new projects. Like other associations in the region, activities tend to
concentrate on health, education, infrastructure and disaster relief.
Honduran associations have also become involved in innovative campaigns to link the
Honduran community in the United States to their homeland. The group Unidad
Hondurena de Florida recently organized a voter registration drive for immigrants wishing to
vote in the last Honduran presidential elections and personally delivered voter registration
cards to officials in Honduras to make sure that they would be accepted. The Organizacion
Hondurena de Palm Beach, also based in Florida, secured in kind donations from local
Honduran-owned painting businesses for use in construction projects throughout San Pedro
Sula. Other projects include assistance with the repatriation of remains, school supply
drives, the construction of community centers and computer labs, the donation of medical
supplies and investment in tourism projects.
While all organizations reported their willingness to partner with other groups, such as
neighboring HTAs and umbrella groups like the Garifuna Coalition, in the implementation
of projects, several indicated their hesitation to work directly with local Honduran
municipalities. Some groups indicate a fear of corruption, and others have had negative
experiences with local government. However, that is not true for all associations. For
example, one New York group which is currently working with the government in San Rosa
de Aguan to rebuild a bridge or another which received funding for a school repair project
from the government of Travesia.
Fundraising efforts
Fundraising efforts on the part of Honduran associations are often creative and have a
strong cultural focus. Fundraising activities have included trips to the beach and to casinos,
a Motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day buffet and other dinners, dances, pageants and other cultural performances.
Many groups also rely on the individual donations of their members, for example the New

22

Horizon Investment Club in New York, whose members pool their personal contributions
for collective investment in things like stocks or real estate. Most groups raise less than
$10,000 a year, but some indicate that they have taken advantage of other sources of
funding, from participating in entrepreneurial business activities to acquiring the support of
major donors such as the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development
and the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter American Development Bank .
Transparency and corruption is an important issue for many of these groups. One Miami
organization personally delivers all of its donations on monthly trips to Honduras and brings
back photos and testimonies from the beneficiaries to share with its members. They
commented that many people prefer to donate to development projects in Honduras
through their association rather than through other vehicles, because they can be confident
that the donations will be going to the right place.

New Horizon Investment Club was founded in 2000 by 10 Garifuna Honduran
immigrants in New York City. These founding members had the idea to pool their resources in
order to learn how to invest in the stock market and then assist in the economic development of the
Honduran community in New York City. New Horizon is a member of the Garifuna Coalition in
New York and strives to empower Garifunas and Afro Latinos in general with investing
knowledge. Since its inception, the organization has grown to over 100 members who convene for
monthly meetings to deposit their investments and discuss possible stocks. In order to diversify
their investments, the group decided to make its first real estate investment in 2004 in the form of a
five unit apartment building in the Bronx.
More recently, the organization has become interested in the idea of leveraging
remittances to boost economic development along the North Coast of Honduras. Specifically, New
Horizon views tourism as an intriguing entry point for remittances to promote job creation and to
attract more foreign currency to the region. To this end, the organization has developed a strategic
alliance with The National Garifuna Tourism Chamber which is comprised of Honduran
entrepreneurs involved in the tourism industry. New Horizon has been active in negotiating
investments in these tourism-related activities through funding from the Multilateral Investment
Fund as well as the United Nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International Fund for Agricultural Development. In addition,
the organization is a co-sponsor of the 8th Annual Garifuna National Conference which will take
place in April 2007 in La Ceiba, Atlantida on the North Coast of Honduras. The event will involve
many local Garifuna organizations and entrepreneurs and will serve to promote tourism in this
region of Honduras.

Hometown associations and development
There is consensus among scholars that there are certain basic issues to address regarding
the relationship between hometown associations and economic development. The key

23

question is whether the attributes and properties of an HTA intersect with those of
development players and development work. 4

The UNDP defines development as a condition that creates “an enabling environment for
people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives.” A development player aims to find
solutions to human needs and to offer alternative ways to promote self-sustainability.
Some of the features that characterize development players involve choosing to promote
some positive form of social, economic, or cultural development, having the capacity to
allocate resources, and exerting an ability to identify needs as well as assess the impact of
their assistance. The points below describe some criteria that relate to a civic organization
like the HTA as a potential developmental player:

Organizational nature: How an organization operates its activities and functions

•

Partnership and Collaborative Capacity: Ability to carry out projects in
collaboration with other institutions

•

Long-term durability: Organization’s institutional capacity to last for at least five
years

•

Impact: Developmental Outcome of the project in targeted areas

A preliminary response to this question is that HTAs are primarily philanthropic groups
whose work sometimes overlaps with economic development, but not always. The
philanthropic work is instrumental to solidifying relationships with the community and
promoting well-being. Moreover, those projects that ge nerate wealth and employment
contribute to the economic growth of a community and serve as models. Social projects
on the other hand will have an impact depending on the way in which their objective
coincides with the realities of local needs, whether they are sustainable over time, and if
4

Salvadorans in Houston are raising money to turn their hometown by a lake into a thriving tourist spot
that can provide jobs and prosperity (Moreno 2006).

24

they pass ownership onto the community and can be replicated elsewhere (Orozco
2005a).

The development impact of HTAs is thus twofold. First, the community activism creates
a critical mass of efforts aiming at addressing social needs that otherwise will be unmet.
However, these needs will not always be fully satisfied by HTA efforts because the
amount of funding is not large enough, the projects may not be sustainable or
commensurate with realities. Second, the impact of these associations is more effective
when they conduct their work in partnership with other groups and the organizations are
organizationally more mature. This latter issue means that HTAs offer a development
potential partic ularly among those that grow over time.

4. Diasporas, Philanthropy and Development
The discussion here about Central American associations brings into the debate the extent of
their role as development players and diasporas. Partly as a result of the dynamics of
globalization, the opportunities from political and economic opening in their societies, and
circumstance, international migration over the past thirty years has shown that migrants have
substantively become involved in different economic and social activities in their home
countries. One of the resulting outcomes of this involvement is the formation of
transnational families and communities; the latter defined as groups or families that maintain
relations and connections that include home and host societies.5
In practical terms, a typical immigrant’s economic linkage with the home country extends to
at least four practices that involve spending or investment: family remittance transfers,
demand of services such as telecommunication, consumer goods or travel, capital investment
and charitable donations to philanthropic organizations raising funds for the migrant’s home
community (see box below).

5

There are a range of definitions, for example one is “groupings of migrants who participate on a routine
basis in a field of relationships, practices and norms that include both places of origin and destination”
(Lozano 1999).

These links have contributed to shaping a transnational identity that defines their place as
diasporas. Sheffer defines diasporas as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;sociopolitical formation, created as a result of
either voluntary or forced migration, whose members regard themselves as of the same
ethno-national origin and who permanently reside as minorities in one or several host
countries. Members of such entities maintain regular or occasional contacts with what they
regard as their homeland and with individuals and groups of the same background residing
in other host countriesâ&#x20AC;? (Sheffer 2003, 10-11).
As diasporas define themselves through relationships with the homeland, international
entities, and host-country governments and societies, they are thus influencing various
dynamics such as development. Their practices are formed in part as a response to changes
in the composition of the international system, be it the global economy or the international
political landscape, as well as development or underdevelopment. People leave their
countries because of poor social, economic and political conditions there, yet they continue
to engage with their homelands at various levels. Such engagement stretches the idea of
development beyond territorial boundaries.
In fact, taking diasporas into account when designing a development strategy is justifiable.
The presence of millions of immigrants who are regularly connected to their homelands, as
well as the impact that those connections have on local economies and communities, are
26

non negligible. Although some donors have engaged in activities as experimental strategies
or trials, an institutional strategy that links their work with diasporas remains to be found.
Several reasons may provide cues as to why this is the situation. First, some development
experts are in disbelief that migrants can participate in development schemes. Second,
because of the limited knowledge that exists about organized diaspora groups, some donors
have uninformed expectations about what the results these groups can achieve. For
example, there are problems of symmetry between a donor and a diaspora organization that
need addressing. Third, diasporas’ good intentions do not commensurate with their lack of
development expertise and focus on how to become involved in development and what to
expect out of their involvement. Fourth, academics who have worked in this field of
diasporas have contributed little to offer a systematic approach that links diasporas and
development. There is a lack of knowledge, theory and method on how to bridge the
assumed link. At points there have even been errors made by academics. The term
‘collective’ remittances, is an example of an expression invented by academics but that in
actuality does not exist outside the minds of non-HTA practitioners. The appropriate term
is donations. Similarly is the extrapolation of terms like ‘social remittances’. Fifth, the
subject matter itself cuts across issues of migration and thus makes many uneasy about the
political implications of doing migration related work. Sixth, even when there are good
intentions among donors, there is no communication among them, much less outreach.
The current challenge is therefore to bridge that reluctance and relative disconnect between
diasporas and development players. Here we offer some clues to keep in mind when
considering this debate. First, is important to contextualize the various dimensions in which
diasporas relate to development. Jenny Robinson (2002) speaks of the relationship between
diasporas and development as being three-pronged: a) development in the diaspora, b)
development through the diaspora, and c) development by the diaspora. The first refers to
the use of networks in the host country, which includes the formation of ethnic businesses,
cultural ties, and social mobilization. Development through the diaspora refers instead to
“how diasporic [sic] communities utilize their diffuse global connections beyond the locality
to facilitate economic and social well being” (Robinson 2002, 113). The third applies to the
ramifications of “the flows of ideas, money, and political support to the migrant’s home
country” (123).

27

A second clue lies in establishing operational links with the economic practices in which
migrants engage. Within the context of changing dynamics and realities there are important
development alternatives to consider. Donors can identify their role by linking the activities
of diasporas and their nexus to development. In turn, they can better operationalize policies
and strategies. Thus, the various relationships that immigrant communities have with their
home countries demand strategies that have a direct impact on issues relating to reducing
transaction costs, leveraging the capital potential of remittances through banking and
financing, promoting tourism, nostalgic trade, and investment, and establishing a state policy
that attends to a countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diasporas.
Table 11: Dimensions of diaspora relationship to development
Development
In the diaspora Through the diaspora By the diaspora
Family remittances

Banking
Financial intermediation;
the unbanked
MFI
Consumption of goods Small
business
and services
development
Investment of capital
Technical training in
remittance receiving areas
Cash and in kind Capacity building Project
identification;
donations
networking

Thamel, MTOs,

Manufactured
goods;
nostalgic trade; tourism
Social philanthropy

Third, it is important to recognize that while remittances and other economic exchanges
primarily go to the poor, these interchanges alone are not a solution to the structural
constraints of poverty. In many and perhaps most cases, remittances provide a temporary
relief to familiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; poverty, but seldom provide a permanent avenue into financial security.
To do this, structural reforms regarding inequality in Latin America as well as specific
policies for integration and financial democracy for sending and receiving households are
necessary.
When thinking about the intersection between development and remittances, it is important
to understand that the social and productive base of an economy significantly defines the
ways in which remittances will effectively function in that economy. Remittances need to be
understood exactly as what they are: foreign savings. As with any other source of foreign
savings, like aid, trade or investment, remittances interact with the structure of the local

28

economy. The extent to which such structures absorb those savings is the first question for
development practitioners. This means that it is important to analyze the productive forces
in an economy, the efficiency levels, how modern it is, what level of
diversification/concentration of production exists within the various sectors, how
entrepreneurship operates and is enabled, what technology tools exist or are missing, and the
extent to which governments provide an enabling environment to motivate an interaction
between investment and production.
Performing such an analysis will give cues about the extent to which the local economy
exhibits substantive opportunities or failures that are enablers of migration and remittances.
If an economy is unable to produce in a competitive context, its labor force will be
depressed and eventually a portion will migrate to take care of their families. Even once they
are away and send money, however, the beneficiaries may only be able to do so much with
that money in so far as the local economy provides an effective supply to the demand of
services and products.
Figure 3: Factors defining impact of remittances

demand

Productive
base

Economic
interactions

supply

29

Enabling
environment

Consumers have a demand for a range of economic and financial commodities and services,
and their knowledge of what they can obtain depends on whether efficient information on
the marketplace of goods exists as well as a supply driven economy and businesses that react
to remittance recipientsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interests. Some of these interests involve savings, credits and other
financial services, but there are other interests such as basic consumption and investment in
education and health. This latter point is significant when considering these issues from a
gender perspective: women can improve their social position when the local economy offers
incentives. If the productive base of the local economy cannot provide for that demand,
imports of goods will then ensue. None of these situations are created by remittances but
rather by the structure of the local economy which is also connected to the global context.
Fourth, understanding the level of engagement diasporas can have in development is crucial.
Assuming that everyone is involved or can be involved is unrealistic. When looking at the
extent to which groups form these types of organizations we find that at most one quarter of
individuals who send remittances belong to a kind of organization. Their level of
engagement is far greater in other activities relating to the family or personal investments.
Fifth, establishing a line of communication with migrant organizations is critically important.
Both diaspora organizations and donors need to find a space for interaction and
communication to bridge the divide that separates them by virtue of their social conditions:
diaspora groups are predominantly volunteer groups. Many conferences and policy
discussions about HTAs, remittances and migration exclude migrants themselves in the
debate silencing a group that already is weak by its own nature and reducing its chances of
effectively participate in development.
These five clues are steps that open opportunities and spaces to think about development
outside the territorial confines of nation-states and focuses on the conditions of
transnational families and communities.

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diasporas, philanthropy and hometown associations: the central american experience

this is the last version available of "diasporas, philanthropy and hometown associations: the central american experience". this paper looks at the experience of hometown associations (htas) in central america as an illustration of voluntary work on development and a manifestation of a transnational identity characterized by the interplay between micro and macro dynamics living in a real world of "distant proximities". the paper analyzes the formation of transnational migrants as diasporas that are formed by the influx of history, migration and contact, and identifies characteristic and features of htas within a broader context of identity and belonging. the paper also looks at the ways in which these associations operate and posits questions about the challenge to development players to engage with diasporas as partners in development. we argue that development work today needs a deterritorialized approach that includes the realities and desires of migrants as organized diasporas o...